Marathon winner recounts overcoming war-torn Africa upbringing

Long before Meb Keflezighi won an emotionally charged Boston Marathon in April a year after bombs killed three people there, he’d already had several close encounters with violence.

When Keflezighi was 10, his family fled the war-torn East African nation of Eritrea.

“It was scary. There were landmines,” he said Friday at the Health & Fitness Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“There was a kid who was going to the restroom and he picked up a landmine. He thought it was a pen or something like that. It exploded his body,” he said. “I remember literally picking up body (parts) so we can have a proper burial. It makes you realize at that early stage that life is precious.”

Keflezighi’s father walked 225 miles to safety in Sudan and eventually made his way to Italy, where he saved enough money to send for his family, which didn’t have electricity or running water.

“We take it for granted here to go to the store to get bread or whatever,” Keflezighi said. “In Eritrea, you have to go somewhere to grind the seeds, then you have to carry (the basket) on your shoulder and take it to the next village.”

After two years in Italy, Keflezighi and his family moved to San Diego, where his running ability was discovered during a seventh-grade gym class in which a T-shirt was awarded to anybody who could break a 6-minute, 15-second mile.

“The teacher said if you run hard enough, you’ll get an A or a B. If you mess around, you’ll get an F,” Keflezighi said. “Before that, my parents talked to all us kids — seven came here — and said, ‘You have this opportunity your uncles and cousins didn’t have. Don’t waste it. Get the best out of yourself.’

“I wanted an A, and I wanted that T-shirt. I ran as hard as I can. I ran 5:20, and my teacher said, ‘You’re gonna be an Olympian.’

“I didn’t know what the Olympics were. I never saw a TV until I was 10 years old, and only one person had a radio in the village I was in.”

The teacher proved to be a prophet, as Keflezighi went on to win a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Despite not speaking English when he arrived in the U.S., Keflezighi also earned a degree at UCLA, where he won four NCAA titles, and his 10 siblings have each earned college degrees.

“Education was important to me,” said Keflezighi, whose MEB Foundation stresses “Maintaining Excellent Balance” in life.

Keflezighi — who will run the Rock ’n’ Roll 5K today at SLS Las Vegas and serve as the 1:45:00 pace runner in Sunday’s Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon on The Strip — is the only man ever to win an Olympic medal, the New York City Marathon and Boston Marathon.

Keflezighi, 39, left the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon five minutes before the bombs exploded.

He returned to Boston this year intent on making a positive impact and — with the names of the bombing victims written on his runner’s bib — became the first American since 1983 to win the event.

“Yeah, I wanted to win it for myself, but that day came and I wanted to win it for the people (who died), for Boston, and I wanted to do it for the United States,” said Keflezighi, who became an American citizen in 1998. “You carry that weight on your shoulder, and you hope everything comes together. You work hard, and you see the Boston Strong (signs) and constant reminders.

“You visualize it, and for it to happen like that, I gave everything I had, my heart and soul. I couldn’t walk for two weeks because I was hurting pretty bad.”

Keflezighi, who ran a personal-best 2:08:37, said he drew inspiration from the crowd and the victims: 8-year-old Martin Richard, 23-year-old Lu Lingzi, 29-year-old Krystle Campbell and Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed by one of the bombing suspects three days after the race.

“If it wasn’t for them and the angels smiling down at me, and the crowd just cheering your name — at 18½, 19 miles, people were chanting U-S-A! U-S-A! and I couldn’t help but join them,” he said, pumping his fist. “The crowd definitely helped me sustain it and be able to win it, but it also was a blessing from the victims.”

One of the best American marathoners ever, Keflezighi said winning Boston fulfilled his career goals. But he’s still running strong. He finished fourth in the recent New York City marathon, where he won in 2009 and was the top American finisher this year.

Like most visitors to Las Vegas, Keflezighi is here to have fun in his role as vice president of running for the Competitor Group, which owns the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon series.

“It’s a celebration thing more than anything to be here. I want to help people accomplish their goal to break 1:45:00,” he said. “It’s fun to interact with people, give them advice and also tell them stories so they don’t think about how far they have to go.”

Keflezighi will join a field of more than 5,000 runners at 6 p.m. today in the inaugural Rock ’n’ Roll 5K. While he’s in Las Vegas as an ambassador for the sport, there’s always a chance someone will get the competitive juices flowing in the man whose autobiography is entitled “Run to Overcome.”

“My goal is to be here and greet people and have a good time,” said Keflezighi, smiling. “But if I’m in the front and someone wants to challenge me, I’m ready for them.”

■ NOTE — The free Health & Fitness Expo will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.